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Underground > Temple >

Foci filosofy

22:05 / 06.10.02

(i'm sorry this post is so terse; i lost my original in a crash so it's hard to repeat everything. i hope it's not an omen, as it's my first post here -- so hello everyone.)

i am curious about techniques used to deal with material foci.

there are mainly two things i want to hear about: 1) how to discard or internalize a focus, and 2) how to create a focus.

i have unintentionally or haphazardly created foci in the past (i.e. no ritual), but they always have a flaw of some kind. for example, i have a necklace that gives me will but makes me callous and nonempathic. to a certain extent, this is unavoidable at least until i adjust, but i've noticed the effect getting worse as i continue to wear the necklace. if anyone can explain this and suggest solutions i would be grateful. it could be as simple as a banishing ritual.

in addition, what techniques can i use to create future foci in order to make them efficient and pure?

i'll also broaden the topic to include any discussions of foci. do you use them? why or why not? what do you use them for? how do you choose objects? do you keep your foci forever or outgrow them? do you think everyone uses foci without realizing it?

~arcangelo~
favente deo supero

07:53 / 08.10.02

I don't really use foci apart from statues of deities and such and objects for elemental quarters etc. Maybe I should, like the other 900 million experiments I should do. Just laziness or habit that keeps me from trying new stuff.
With your necklace what about binding something into it with more empathic qualities ie. charge up some Rose Quartz or something with the appropriate mood and attach this to the necklace? Could any problems be associated with the way you're approaching the notion of will?
I'm intigued by the notion of everyone using foci unconciously - can you expand?

07:59 / 08.10.02

An idle thought: if people are using foci unconciously, it's probably not for mood alteration, you've got drugs, media, all kinds of stimulation for that. The most powerful objects are those with emotional links to others - engagement rings, gifts from friends etc etc.

Nietzsch E. Coyote

23:05 / 08.10.02

For a long time that is how I thought of foci. Things with intense "personal meaning".

17:24 / 11.10.02

First impulse answer: Maybe your foci are supposed to have flaws, like the proverbial flaw introduced into rugs.

Why? I don't know. When you're not wearing the necklace are you overemotional? Then perhaps the focus is pointing out that if you want to get things done, you have to harden yourself. Correspondingly, it's warning you that you might hurt people if you focus too closely on a goal.

I'm imagining it as though it's a crutch that you're encouraged to use, learn from, and then internalize the lessons and take it off.

(This isn't through any divination or matching personal experience, so take this with a grain of salt.)

18:24 / 11.10.02

First impulse answer: Maybe your foci are supposed to have flaws, like the proverbial flaw introduced into rugs.

I was thinking the same thing as Perfect Tom, about the foci in relation to variables and balance. If foci emphasizes one aspect then maybe it might throw things out of whack a bit and cause flux like that. Since the necklace you talked about substatique, is used for will, maybe that is why callousness becomes the fallout. As PTom mentioned, "the focus is pointing out that if you want to get things done, you have to harden yourself". Perhaps, if you are more emotional when you do not use the necklace, it may just seem like you are more callous than you are actually being.

MT

01:31 / 13.10.02

it's not emotional control that i have a problem with, it's more...self-obligation. i guess procrastination and laziness are part of that. Mr Illmatic said, "Just laziness or habit that keeps me from trying new stuff." that's what this necklace was supposed to help me with.

Mr Illmatic, your comment that i might need to think about how i approach the notion of will was a good one. i had thought that a loss of empathy might be a natural and unavoidable side-effect of added willpower, but it could be that if i had a different concept of willpower, it wouldn't have to be. (although, would some other negative side-effect have to be introduced, i wonder...?)

Perfect Tommy, i think you might be right too, that i should learn from it and take it off. however, i already did this and i find that i've internalized the negative and not the positive. clearly, more work is necessary, but i think i can figure it out. i suspect i should dust off the ol' tarot.

my magick usually ends up granting me success in a way i don't want (one of my first sigil workings was to land me a job, which turned out to be an awful job). however, they are always learning experiences. is this common?

about unconscious use of foci: my personal belief is that everybody is a magician, and those who admit it are usually more self-aware. whether you are tying your left shoe first or closing your eyes and counting to ten when your temper rises, you are performing magick, so you might as well admit it. with regard to foci, some people have a "lucky hat," or a ring that reminds them of someone who exemplifies some quality, etc. most people don't think of that as magick.

11:17 / 13.10.02

I wonder if cleasing the necklace and then recharging with your finer tuned intent, substatique, would work? Maybe, the fallout is coming from another source, like the person or persons who might have crafted the piece or a previous owner. This is assuming it was not cleansed initially and "accidentally" or haphazardly became a focus.

Since your emotionallity is not an issue for you and laziness perhaps is, if the focus could be reprogrammed to make you energetic and active, or spirited and enthusiastic.

I am not sure how this could be approached since my experience with foci is limited. I did have a crystal spear I used in dreaming to pierce intent in my dreams, but that may be a different method and application as I never actually used the spear in the material, and may not be exactly what we are discussing here, dunno. I didn't have much fallout with this, except perhaps, an slight obsession and reliance upon the spear to do what I could actually do without it.

This brings us back to Tommy's suggestion when he said: I'm imagining it as though it's a crutch that you're encouraged to use, learn from, and then internalize the lessons and take it off.
Maybe, when different foci outgrow their usefulness to you, this residual effect you speak of results. At this time, if the lesson is internalized, maybe, another focus would help to adjust the fallout effects. Or, the object could be reprogrammed, as I suggested earlier.

Just wondering, but do you think that now you seem to concentrate more on the callousness than your will since you noticed this?

May